Honest discussion needed

Michael Reagan

Even Drudge ran the birth of the Prince of Cambridge at the top of his page, treating it like it was the biggest event out of Europe since D-Day.

Maybe the media wanted to change the subject to something pleasant -- or completely unimportant -- but the arrival of Kate and William's baby boy was a timely blessing.

It blew George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin and the issue of race in America off the front pages. It even eclipsed President Obama's teleprompter-free speech about the Zimmerman verdict last Friday afternoon.

The liberal media, as usual, gave the presidential sermon a standing ovation, saying that Obama -- who claimed Trayvon Martin could have been him 35 years ago -- hit a home run.

But I agree with what that old boo-bird Bill O'Reilly said on his TV show Monday night. The president didn't whiff completely, but he grounded out weakly to second base.

O'Reilly, madder than usual, praised the president in his "Talking Points Memo" for bringing up the issue.

But then he blasted Obama and other black leaders for still having "no clue" how to solve the social and moral problems that continue to rip apart black communities in our cities.

O'Reilly pointed out that, yes, Martin was profiled by Zimmerman, the community watchman. But it wasn't because of his race.

It was because Martin was wearing a hoodie -- the official national uniform of urban street thugs and drug gangs.

When President Obama said Martin could have been him 35 years ago, he was talking nonsense. Thirty-five years ago, Barack Obama wasn't stalking around gated communities at night wearing gangster clothes and getting in fistfights.

Trayvon Martin's death was a horrible tragedy. That cannot be said too many times.

But Martin's death should not be exploited any further by the president or anyone else as proof that white racism is the chief cause of problems in the black community.

Black communities have been breeding a criminal class for decades. Repealing stand-your-ground laws or passing stricter gun control laws will not change that. Nor will blaming the justice system.

The black community's problems begin at home. They are not a result of slavery or discrimination or poverty.

They are, as O'Reilly said, a result of the disintegration of the black family, a gangster culture that glorifies criminals, and a bunch of so-called civil rights leaders who ignore reality, preach victimhood and blame racism for everything.

Young black males are dying at disproportionate rates in Chicago and other cities not because they're being shot by racist white cops, or wanna-be cops like George Zimmerman, but because they are being gunned down by other young black males, usually over drug-gang turf wars.

O'Reilly said, "It's now time for the African-American leadership, including President Obama, to stop the nonsense. Walk away from the world of victimization and grievance and lead the way out of this mess."

Exactly.

Black leaders, including the president, need to step up and start talking about the real causes of crime and poverty in black communities. So should our gutless media.

For a year the president and black leaders have cynically exploited a tragedy to "prove" that society still needs to do much more for blacks.

Instead they should be using Trayvon Martin's death as an opportunity to start an honest national discussion about what the black community needs to do for itself.

Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, and the author of "The New Reagan Revolution" (St. Martin's Press). He is the founder of the email service reagan.com and president of The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Visit his websites at www.reagan.com and www.michaelereagan.com. Send comments to Reagan@caglecartoons.com. Follow @reaganworld on Twitter.